Be the Difference

“No one ever made a difference by being like everyone
else.” -P.T. Barnum

P. T Barnum is right. It is those people who are willing to
risk everything to be the person they believe they are created to be that truly
make the difference in our worlds. Their story becomes the story that inspires
us. When we hear someone’s story that involves encountering hardship,
overcoming crisis or facing their own demons we are left inspired. We are
forced to face the challenge to do this in our own lives or settle for the
common place; mediocre existences where we conform to expectation and status
quo. We end up living in the realm of the sub-par, but at least this way there
is little resistance, little difficulty and no hardship…

I believe the challenge for Richmond Christian College and
its community is the same as the challenge that lies within The World’s
Greatest Showman. Are we going to be an educational institution like every
other in this town, this state and this world? Will we continue to manufacture
kids who are ready to consume and behave as the world wants them to so that
they may ‘succeed’, or, are we going to be as God intends for us to be? Can we
be the light on a hill; a point of difference in our community that seeks to
raise children, in conjunction with their families, to be individuals who
uniquely contribute to the world around them based on who God designed them to
be? Are we committed to raising unique individuals no matter the cost, or
people who will simply dissolve into our consumerist driven world?

So many challenges.

George Orwell’s dystopian sci-fi novel, 1984, suggests
that “hope lies in the proles.” The Proles represent common man – and the
suggestion is that when common man is uniquely himself and does not submit
thoughtlessly to the god of the day (from technology, to materialism to
consumerism to self), freedom can be had for all. Freedom from the tyranny and
slavey of the sameness and mindless acquiescence to the powers that be.
Orwell’s conclusion is the same as P.T Barnum’s – the world is a better place
when people are themselves.

Our Good Book says something similar. Psalm 139 encourages
us to understand that we were each fearfully and wonderfully made by God. 1
Corinthians 12 reminds us that for a body of people to function well together
each part of the body must perform its own unique role in order for the whole
body to work well. I believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt that God created us
specifically to be ourselves, to perform a role that is valuable and unique. When
I take the time to stop and think on this I am struck by the wonder of the
Creator and the purpose and hope that lies with Him and in us. A fact all too
often lost in our world.

It takes the modern-day stories like The World’s Greatest
Showman to remind us of a truth that existed a long time ago and no matter
how I write it, it remains true – no one ever made a difference by being like everyone
else. I guess you could also say, I am fearfully and wonderfully made for a
purpose – so I must live it fearlessly!
Good
Tidings